Tips for moving to NoVa for the schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The commute from Vienna Station to DC is 30 minutes, 45 if you need to go deeper in DC. It's easy and you always get a seat. Driving is a different story, but if you live close to the train station there is no need to ever drive. Its been great - we are DC transplants ourselves.

You have to add on the time it takes to get to the station, park, walk to the platform, wait for the train, and walk from the station in DC to your office. It adds up. Commuted from Vienna to DC for years and it was almost never 30 minutes and often over an hour. You do not want to do this if you have other options.

This. We live midway between East Falls Church and Ballston (1-2 miles to the Metro) and my husband’s commute is 45 min to Federal Triangle - and he works practically on top of the Metro.

You can't beat proximity to the station.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, do you work in DC proper? If so, then wouldn't Montgomery county also be a good option?

I work in Georgetown and my husband works near Union Station

You want Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, do you work in DC proper? If so, then wouldn't Montgomery county also be a good option?

I work in Georgetown and my husband works near Union Station

You want Bethesda.

When was Bethesda in NoVa? Maybe they are thinking ahead to college.

[Anonymous]

I know many people who work near Union Station (either on the Hill or at the SEC) and prefer to live in NoVa rather than Maryland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, do you work in DC proper? If so, then wouldn't Montgomery county also be a good option?

I work in Georgetown and my husband works near Union Station

Check out Kensington and Bethesda. Much better commute and great schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For commuting to DC, I would stick to McLean.

This 100%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, do you work in DC proper? If so, then wouldn't Montgomery county also be a good option?

I work in Georgetown and my husband works near Union Station

Check out Kensington and Bethesda. Much better commute and great schools.

Unless you have a problem with Maryland, BCC, Whitman, and Walter Johnson are as good or better HSs than any place that would suit you in VA and the commute to Union Station and Georgetown are much better at your budget. Especially near Red Line and MARC in BCC and Walter Johnson clusters. Whitman is better than any non magnet HS in VA but is far from Union Station.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know if it's still true but when I bought a house many years ago the realtor told me she "wasn't allowed" to talk about school districts so you have to do your own research about that.

Yup.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The commute from Vienna Station to DC is 30 minutes, 45 if you need to go deeper in DC. It's easy and you always get a seat. Driving is a different story, but if you live close to the train station there is no need to ever drive. Its been great - we are DC transplants ourselves.

And another 30 minutes spent on the front and back end. Best case scenario is an hour door to door. Hard pass.

Plus, you are in suburbia hell in Vienna.

LOL at Vienna being suburbia hell.

if Vienna is suburbia hell, then what is Ashburn?

Another planet?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The commute from Vienna Station to DC is 30 minutes, 45 if you need to go deeper in DC. It's easy and you always get a seat. Driving is a different story, but if you live close to the train station there is no need to ever drive. Its been great - we are DC transplants ourselves.

And another 30 minutes spent on the front and back end. Best case scenario is an hour door to door. Hard pass.

Plus, you are in suburbia hell in Vienna.

LOL at Vienna being suburbia hell.

if Vienna is suburbia hell, then what is Ashburn?

This is like being glad you have crabs when your neighbor has herpes. You don't want either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, do you work in DC proper? If so, then wouldn't Montgomery county also be a good option?

I work in Georgetown and my husband works near Union Station

Check out Kensington and Bethesda. Much better commute and great schools.

Unless you have a problem with Maryland, BCC, Whitman, and Walter Johnson are as good or better HSs than any place that would suit you in VA and the commute to Union Station and Georgetown are much better at your budget. Especially near Red Line and MARC in BCC and Walter Johnson clusters. Whitman is better than any non magnet HS in VA but is far from Union Station.

If you’re going to claim Whitman is “better” than any non-magnet HS in VA, you should also be willing to admit some non-magnet HS in VA are “better” than B-CC and Walter Johnson.

But you ought to let OP and explain why she is asking about NoVa, not MoCo.

[Anonymous]

Also there will be a big redistricting affecting Walter Johnson when Woodward reopens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know if it's still true but when I bought a house many years ago the realtor told me she "wasn't allowed" to talk about school districts so you have to do your own research about that.

Yup.

Realtors highlight the school assignments for homes zoned to top pyramids all the time in their listings. What they don’t do is specifically tell clients some schools are better than others or that they should avoid particular pyramids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Moving from DC to Virginia as my son becomes school age. Best tips for finding some homes in good school districts? Any recommended realtors who know the area well or does it not matter? Does writing letters actually work? Are there listservs or ways to learn about homes before they go online?

For context, we were thinking McLean or Great falls but we’re new to the DMV area so open to other recommendations. Budget is $1.3M and under. Main considerations are good school district and not too far from work (in DC)

With your budget and commute, I would recommend MD- Bethesda (3000+ sq ft older house). You can get a little further with your dollar in Bethesda than McLean and just as good schools, if not better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Moving from DC to Virginia as my son becomes school age. Best tips for finding some homes in good school districts? Any recommended realtors who know the area well or does it not matter? Does writing letters actually work? Are there listservs or ways to learn about homes before they go online?

For context, we were thinking McLean or Great falls but we’re new to the DMV area so open to other recommendations. Budget is $1.3M and under. Main considerations are good school district and not too far from work (in DC)

With your budget and commute, I would recommend MD- Bethesda (3000+ sq ft older house). You can get a little further with your dollar in Bethesda than McLean and just as good schools, if not better.

OP isn’t asking about Maryland. They probably know that Virginia has better state university options and that MoCo has fallen behind NoVa economically.